Bound
by Myrddin Emrys The Third
Summary: Faced with unpleasant engagement choices, Draco decides that Hermione Granger is going to help him choose the life HE wants instead of the life his parents want for him, whether she likes it or not. T rated Dramione.
1. Chapter 1

**A new story! Woot!**

 **Anyway, I've been having difficulty lately with writing anything, except for my drabbles, and I've figured that, all things considered, it's probably length that's giving me a headache. So I'm keeping the chapters for this short to see how I go, and hopefully fix my problems.**

 **In any case, enjoy this story with characters in it that I don't own. ;)**

 _ **Bound**_

 **Chapter One**

Draco Malfoy looked down at the two rings in his hand, both of them humming with strong betrothal enchantments. They were designed so that, when two people put them on, they would be entered into an unbreakable contract that would see them married, with fidelity spells added on for good measure. His parents had given them to him with the expectation that he would present the feminine one to a pureblood witch of their choosing, and right now, their choosing was either Pansy Parkinson, or Astoria Greengrass.

Neither witch was good enough for him, though. Not really. Both of them were clingy, whining, money grabbing tarts that were only interested in him for his surname and the size of his Gringotts account. Draco shuddered in disgust at the thought of spending the rest of his life tied to either one of them. Maybe if it had been Daphne instead of Astoria, but his former classmate was happily married to Theo Nott. The two of them were in love, and he envied them that happiness.

Draco wanted to be with someone that made him feel the way Daphne made Theo feel, but his parent's plans were ruining that for him. Even though after the war Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had put on a 'redeemed' face to the public, the two of them were still blood purists at heart, and would settle for nothing less than the pure continuation of the Malfoy line. If Draco wanted to be with someone who wasn't a pureblood, he figured the chances of him being disowned were pretty high.

Sighing, Draco sat back in his seat at the café in Diagon Alley. The café was a new edition to the alley, which had undergone a major refurbishment after the war. Thanks to the ingenuity of magic, the alley was now twice as long, and had a couple of extra ones leading off from it. One of them was a new residential alley, and the other was a business one. Knockturn had even been cleaned up slightly, but it still clung to its rather seedy reputation.

Looking around, he saw a lot of people going about their business in the busy alley, which it always was these days on a weekday. Checking his pocket watch, he noted that he was due to meet up with his parents soon with whoever it was he chose to 'adorn' with the Malfoy rings. He knew Pansy and Astoria were nearby, waiting for him to pick one of them, and there was no way he was getting through the day without getting engaged to someone.

As his gaze travelled mechanically over the alley, not truly registering anything or anyone, he was suddenly brought to attention by the sight of bushy hair, although, when he looked again, it was more like proper curly than bushy now. Hermione Granger. He grimaced at the sight of her, and wondered what she was doing without either of her sidekicks. Then he remembered about the article in the Daily Prophet, and her rather nasty and public breakup from the ginger third of their little group. If he remembered correctly, Potter was staying out of their little spat, and had been seen in the company of both of them, though separately.

As he watched her strolling down the alley, Draco remembered that Granger was supposed to be the brightest witch of their age, and if anyone could help him out of this mess, it was her. A rather sneaky and underhand idea formed, one that had him getting up and following her surreptitiously. He trailed her as she reached the Leaky Cauldron, then through it and out into the muggle world. Draco hesitated only briefly before following her into the murky streets of London. Before he lost sight of her, though, he quickly slipped on the male ring, then suddenly stepped up to her, grabbed her hand, and slipped the other one onto her left ring finger.

"What the…? Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

She looked up at him, her eyes widening as she took in who it was that had accosted her, then pushed him away from her, tugging at the ring that now lay snugly on her finger. "What the hell is wrong with you, Malfoy?" she demanded, then frowned when she couldn't get the ring off. "Why won't this come off?"

"It's a Malfoy family heirloom," Draco told her. "And it's magically bound to your finger."

She glared at him disbelievingly and continued to try to get it off, to no avail. Finally she gave up and spoke imperiously, "I demand that you get this ring off right now, Malfoy, or I'll have you charged!"

"With what?" Draco asked. "It's not like I've assaulted you in any way. All I did was put a ring on your finger. Most people would think that it was romantic."

"Romantic?" she snapped at him. "It's not romantic! It's ridiculous! What the hell kind of ring is this, anyway?"

He smirked at her. "Only the most powerful bonding ring in the entire magical world," he told her, and she paled.

"You mean we're-"

"Congratulations, Granger, you've bagged yourself a Malfoy."

 **So how was it? Review please! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there! These chapters are** _ **short**_ **, and will remain that way the whole way through. I said that in the first chapter, and it will NOT change. Just soz you noz. ;)**

 **Anyway, I don't own the characters or the world, just the idea for this story.**

 **Chapter Two**

Hermione Granger had been having such a good day. Finally, _finally_ , she'd managed to get a hold of a copy of a rare book on healing potions that she'd been waiting _months_ for, and had picked it up at Flourish and Blotts just half an hour ago. Then she'd run into Ginny and Luna, who'd been out on a shopping trip for an upcoming 'do' for Luna's dad at the Quibbler. The three of them had eagerly made plans for a girls night, with Ginny adding in that she could probably get a few more girls involved, including her recent sister in law, Angelina.

With plans to head into muggle London, Hermione had said her goodbyes to the two witches and left, only to be accosted by a ferret just outside the Leaky Cauldron's magical influence. Unable to draw her wand because of the risk of muggle seeing it, Hermione had been ready to punch him in the face. How dare he put her in this situation!? _Bagged herself a Malfoy_!? Why the hell would she want that? The stupid, smug git was currently smirking at her, looking triumphant.

"What on earth did you think you would accomplish by doing this, Malfoy?" she demanded.

"Simple," he told her. "You're going to figure out a way to break this enchantment. You do, after all, have considerable experience with breaking centuries old pureblood spells and laws."

He was, of course, referring to all the work she'd been doing alongside Kingsley to abolish archaic laws that were inhibiting the growth of the magical community in Britain. Already the two of them had made it illegal to discriminate against prospective employees, tenants and other such situations, based on the old blood prejudices. It had galled her that, even though the Ministry had always put on an 'equal opportunity' face to the public, the reality had been anything but. But it was changing now, because of the work she and Kingsley had been doing.

"That doesn't mean you should go putting enchanted engagement rings on people!" she told him with just a _little_ less hostility. "You should have just _asked_ for my help!"

"Would you really have helped me?" Malfoy asked her.

She heard the disbelief in his tone, and felt a little indignant. "Of course I would have!" she told him.

"Regardless," he said. "My parents told me not to come home today unless that ring was on either Pansy-" _she winced in sympathy_ "-or Astoria's finger. And since I refuse to do that, you were the next logical choice."

Hermione sighed, then glared at him, then sighed again. "So," Malfoy spoke. "Are you going to help me, Granger?"

"Do I have a choice?" she muttered.

He grinned at her then, a rather genuine one that was so different from his usual smirk, Hermione had to look twice. "Great!" he said. "When should we meet up to discuss all this, then?"

Ten minutes later, with plans to meet up the following day at the Ministry to start on the laws that covered enchantments like these, Hermione found herself standing on her own in the London street, muttering under her breath about how she was going to hex off Malfoys balls, and anything else she could think of, when all of this was through.

 **Next up, parental disappointment! Maybe. I think?**

 **Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I love it when something pops unexpectedly into my head and I sit there and type it all out. Pansy popped into my head today, and she was such a manipulative little bitch, I could have kissed her! ;) Anyway, she has completely and utterly inspired this entire chapter, so I hope you love her evil, bitchiness just as much as I do. :)**

 **Disclaimer… Whatever! :P**

 **Chapter Three**

Pansy Parkinson was not happy. No, she was _fuming!_

She'd seen her precious Drakie in Diagon Alley, and had been about to go over to him, when he'd gotten up and started walking. Pansy had increased her stride to catch up with him so she could convince him to give her his family ring, when she realised that he was following someone. At first, she didn't recognise the woman, and she felt a spark of jealousy toward the beautiful brunette. But then she realised who it was, and absolutely _couldn't_ believe that Draco was going anywhere _near_ her!

What on earth was so appealing about following the mudblood, Granger? The stupid little muddy pet of stupid Harry Potter was nothing special, and Pansy's brain took back that brief thought that she'd had about her being beautiful. The mudblood was ugly, and as dirty as the blood in her veins! She kept her distance, and could only watch in horror as her darling Drakie put his family ring on the filthy beasts finger. What in Merlin's name had that creature done to her poor Drakie to make him do that?

Pansy was determined that she wasn't going to get away with it, but she knew that going to the authorities wouldn't help her. Everyone was so brainwashed these days, they just accepted animals like Granger into their world. No… She was going to have to go to Draco's parents, they would know what to do. Surely they would have a spell or perhaps an antidote to whatever their son had been cursed with! There was no way, after all, that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy would let an _animal_ into their family!

Things were bad enough for Pansy these days, having to put up with the likes of Astoria Greengrass, vying for her Drakie's attention. Astoria may be pedigree pureblood, but she was only interested in Draco for his name and his money. Pansy, on the other hand, wanted his name, his money, his tight firm arse, his gorgeous silver eyes, his huge… er… _heart_. In any case, her reasons for wanting to be with Draco were purer that Astoria's, even if the Greengrasses were far more influential in pureblood circles than the Parkinsons were. But that was just because of their neutrality during the war, which Pansy naturally didn't approve of.

In any case, she headed straight inside to use the Leaky Cauldron's floo, calling out 'Malfoy Manor,' and arriving to find a house elf already there to greet her.

"Go and get Lord and Lady Malfoy, worm," Pansy huffed imperiously, already practising her best 'Lady of the manor' tone. "Quickly now, or I'll have your head mounted on the wall!"

The elf squealed in fright and vanished with a loud pop, making Pansy incredibly pleased with herself, and ten minutes later, Lucius and Narcissa appeared. "Pansy, Darling!" Narcissa greeted her, taking her in her arms and kissing her cheeks. "To what do we owe the pleasure? Wait, don't tell me, our little Dragon gave you his ring?"

Pansy sighed dramatically, then tears welled in her eyes. It was an art she'd perfected in school, and it almost always got her what she wanted. (Her mother had become immune, but at least Daddy still melted when his Princess turned on the water works.)

"Oh, Cissa!" Pansy wailed. "It's horrible! I was in Diagon Alley, and I saw Draco, but then that mudblood, Granger came along and did something to him!"

"What's that?" Lucius demanded, and Pansy felt smug at the anger that was in his voice. "What did she do to him?"

"She tricked him somehow!" Pansy wailed. "Now his ring is on her finger, and I've lost my Drakie!"

 _"WHAT?!"_

 **Well? Was she deliciously wicked? Review and let me know, please! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**New chapter! I'm so glad I could actually concentrate on figuring this one out, because ALL last night, the people in the house next to the ones behind us were having some sort of party that had already been going on all that day, and they were making a LOT of noise! I got NO sleep last night! :( I feel like my sanity left and went on a holiday, especially when they amped the volume up at about quarter to five this morning! I'm freaking tired, and I just hope that tonight, I can actually get some sleep!**

 **You know what a disclaimer is…**

 **Chapter Four**

Something weird was going on.

Ever since Draco had returned home, his parents had been acting rather strangely. They'd almost been mollycoddling him, though to what end, he had no idea. It was _so_ unlike them, he was worried that someone had perhaps slipped them some kind of potion… His mother was practically _fawning_ over him, and his father kept clapping his hand on his shoulder, looking like he was lost for words.

At this particular point in time, Draco was rather warily eating his dinner, ever mindful of the fact that his parents were watching him like a hawk, their eyes following every morsel of food that passed his lips. Not much was being said, but he could tell that they were inwardly bursting at the seams to tell him something. Draco's appetite had long since disappeared, and he would have stopped eating already, but when he'd started to put his fork down, his mother had piled more food in front of him and _insisted_ that he eat.

It was creeping him out.

Finally, he finished everything on his plate and reached for the goblet filled with his favourite brand of pumpkin juice. He was about to take a sip, when he noticed that his parents had suddenly sat up to attention. Draco frowned and lowered his goblet, even more suspicious than he had been before.

"Is there something wrong with your pumpkin juice, my Dragon?" his mother asked. "It's your favourite, isn't it?"

"Yes," Draco confirmed, then decided that he was going to get to the bottom of whatever the hell was going on here. "Is there something wrong, Mother? Father? The two of you have been acting oddly ever since I returned home."

"There's nothing wrong, is there, Lucius?" Narcissa said.

"Nothing at all," Lucius agreed. "Drink up, son."

More than a little terrified of the eager looks on his parent's faces, Draco took a tentative sip of the juice. There seemed to be nothing wrong with it, he couldn't taste anything poisonous, though there were some out there that were tasteless, but he really doubted his parents would poison him. A larger sip, and Draco still felt fine. He looked up at his parents to see that they were looking more than a little relieved.

"How are you feeling, son?" his father asked.

"Fine, father," Draco replied.

"Any strong feelings?" his father continued. "Positive or negative? Do you perhaps feel like hunting down and confronting a rather vexing mudblood?"

 _Mudblood_?

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, perplexed.

"Oh darling!" his mother cooed at him. "We know all about what happened! Pansy was here earlier, she told us that the mudblood Granger had drugged you! The antidote in you juice has fixed that right up!"

" _Pansy was here_!?" Draco asked, then caught onto something his mother had said. "She said Granger drugged me? Granger didn't drug me!"

"Of course she did!" his father tsked at him. "I checked you for spells when you arrived and you were negative, so that only left a love potion as the possible explanation. Why else would you put the Malfoy family ring on that magic thief?"

Suddenly it all made sense to Draco. Pansy must have seen him in Diagon earlier today, and followed him out to where he'd cornered Granger into helping him. She'd run straight to his parents? Why was he not surprised?

"I can assure you, mother, father, that I have not been drugged today," he told them, his tone completely serious, and his parents looked utterly shocked.

"But why would you do that?" Narcissa demanded, tears forming in her eyes. "You were supposed to put the ring on Pansy's finger!"

"Or preferably Astoria's," Lucius said, and his wife sent him a withering glare that he ignored.

"I put the ring on Hermione Granger's finger of my own free will," Draco told them. "There was no drugging, charming, or any other sort of magical coercion. I put it on, she didn't resist," ( _at first_ , he thought) "so now we are engaged."

His parents shared a look, and then his mother fainted dead away in her chair.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, I've had an eventful few days. :(**

 **Anyway, here's a new chapter with characters I don't own, but I'm 'borrowing' them for this story. ;)**

 **Chapter Five**

Hermione had gone through a lot during the war; torture, malnutrition, the loss of loved ones, but she was beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, it was all simply practice for having to deal with being engaged to a _Malfoy_.

Earlier that day, when she'd returned home, it had been to find an owl waiting for her. Harry's owl, to be exact. Apparently she was invited over to dinner tonight, a whole lot would be there, including Ginny, Luna, Neville and others. There was no way she could let any of her friends know about the 'engagement', so naturally, she waved her wand over the ring, muttering a concealment charm.

Only the bloody thing didn't vanish from view like it was supposed to! After a mild panic attack, Hermione tried a few other spells she knew about concealment, until finally she realised she was either going to have to go and face the music, or lie and say she felt sick and couldn't go. That last one was tempting, but she'd seen Ginny only ten minutes before being accosted by the stupid ferret, so her red headed friend would probably know something was up.

Hermione was in no mood for one of Ginny's 'interrogations'.

After her break up from Ron, Hermione hadn't really had much interaction with the Weasley clan, save for Ginny and George. Not because they'd all sided with Ron in the fight they'd had, but simply because of the fact that Ron still lived at the Burrow, and neither of them could stand the sight of one another for some time. That was slowly changing, as Ron had sent her a few apology letters, and dialogue was opening between them once more.

The dinner tonight was going to be at Grimmauld Place, which Harry had moved into after having it completely overhauled after the war. After much hoo-ing and ha-ing over it, Hermione decided to go. So she turned the ring around and pulled on some light, but fashionable gloves that she hoped no one would question or get her to remove. It was the only solution she could think of.

So Hermione rocked up at Grimmauld Place at seven that night, greeted by Harry at the door. "I'm so glad you're here, Hermione," he greeted her, then his expression turned carefully neutral. "Ron arrived with Ginny for dinner."

"Oh," was all Hermione had to say at that.

"Please don't leave," Harry almost begged her.

Hermione smiled at her friend. "I won't go, Harry," she promised. "Ron and I need to get used to being around each other again, anyway."

Dinner was fantastic, and Ron was carefully polite to her, then Ginny noticed her gloves and asked her, "What's with the fashion choice, Herms?"

Every single eye then turned to Hermione and her hands, and the brunette witch found herself wishing she could disappear into the back of her chair. "I felt like wearing them," she said.

Her refusal to elaborate seemed to spark further interest in people, and George decided to make a light-hearted, but chillingly accurate, comment. "Are you hiding something _naughty_ under that glove, Hermione?"

Hermione couldn't see her face, of course, so she had no idea what it was there that made Ginny whip out her wand and vanish the gloves. Several pairs of eyes gaped at her hand, and the ring that had somehow turned back around, and someone exclaimed, "Wow! Check out the rock on Hermione's finger!"

 **So what did you think? Personally I think my writing's a bit chaotic here, but I suppose that's just something that happens every now and then. Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Enjoy the new chapter! It's a bit longer than 2-5, but still shorter than 1.**

 **Disclaimer, yadda-yadda-yadda…**

 **Chapter Six**

As Draco lay back on Blaise's horribly uncomfortable couch, he thought back over the day's events. His parents had kicked him out of the manor after a monstrous row that would have been heard by the neighbours, if they'd had any. As soon as she'd recovered from her swoon, his mother had laid in on him like there was no tomorrow.

" _I cannot believe you've done this! Have you gone completely mad? Why would you shame our family so?!"_

His father had joined in with the yelling, though not until his wife had given their son her best shot, and his had been more of the patronising sort.

" _Really, Draco, is this just a show of teenage rebellion? A bit late for that don't you think, son?"_

Teenage rebellion? Seriously? Sighing, Draco shifted on the couch, immensely pleased that it was only for tonight. Blaise, being the good friend that he was, said he knew someone with a flat available, and he'd sent off an owl. The response had been rather quick, and had been positive, and they had instructions to meet Blaise's friend the following day, before he met up with Granger. He shifted again, then hissed in annoyance when a stray spring dug into his back, and shifted back.

" _How could you do this to your mother and I? Do you not appreciate everything we've done for you, all the sacrifices we've made?"_

At that thought, Draco winced slightly. Yes, his parents had made some sacrifices for him, but in his mind, that was what parents did, right? Of course Draco appreciated the life he'd had, the money, the connections, but he was willing to give it all away to ensure control over his own life. He vaguely recalled saying something like that during the fight, and it really had not gone down well.

" _Control? You have control of your life! It's not like we've been forcing you to do things that aren't good for you! And marrying Pansy is definitely what's best for you!"_

" _You mean Astoria."_

Both of his parents had forgotten about him for a moment in order to argue over the pros and cons of the two witches Draco had been told to choose between. It had been incredibly insightful, and had cleared up just why each of them wanted the daughter in law that they did. His mother mostly wanted Pansy because of her friendship with Posey Parkinson. His father wanted him to marry Astoria because of the neutrality of her family during the war. Apparently it would be good for the Malfoy image.

" _Pansy is only interested in our money! Astoria's family don't need to worry about that!"_

Money. It was a driving force in the pureblood world, an unavoidable fact. And Lucius had been wrong about Astoria. She put on a show for his father, but Draco knew she was equally as interested in the Malfoy money as Pansy was. Sighing, Draco shifted onto his side, and mercifully found a mostly lump free position. Trying not to move too much, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. He needed to be fresh tomorrow to meet with Blaise's friend. And Granger too.

" _You stuck the Malfoy family ring on Granger's finger!? Hahahaha! Oh, that's priceless, mate!"_

Draco grimaced as he remembered his friend's reaction when he explained why he was on his doorstep with nary a thing save his wand and the clothes on his back. Blaise was one of the few Slytherins to come out of the war without having some sort of connection to the deatheaters, save that his best friend had become one. At the end of sixth year, his mother had whisked his off to Italy to stay with family, where Blaise had learned that he was actually a halfblood, not a pureblood. Not that it mattered to Draco, Blaise was the best friend a guy like him could hope for. (Sheesh! How sappy could he get?)

" _Of course you can stay the night, mate. In fact, I might know someone who might have a slightly more permanent place for you, they never could say no to me."_

The grin on his face had Draco certain that the person he'd meet tomorrow would be female. Finally, though, he drifted off to sleep, and even though he half woke several times during the night, he was glad that he was there, sleeping on that stupid couch, after all.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's a new chapter for you. :) I'm going to be starting a barista course tomorrow (Monday for me) that goes from nine til five, and ends Friday, so I have no idea if I'll do any writing during that time. I'm gonna be exhausted, I just know it, but I'm also going to try to write at some point during then. This course is going to hopefully get me a job, or just help me get one, and if that happens, I'm gonna need to get back into that particular swing with my writing.**

 **In any case, disclaimer, enjoy. ;)**

 **Chapter Seven**

 _There was silence._

 _Then everything exploded, and there were questions coming in left, right, and centre. Hermione was stuck in the middle of the storm with no safety line, and she was drowning in the flood. The largest wave came, of course, from Ginny, who was indignant that Hermione hadn't told her that she was seeing anyone, and Harry echoed that sentiment. Ron was demanding to know who it was, and George was adding into the confusion just for fun, it seemed._

 _She saw that look in his eye…_

 _It continued on until Harry yelled at everyone to shut it, then threatened to kick them out if they didn't. When everyone was silent, he turned to the witch in question and asked, "Well, Hermione?"_

Hermione sighed as she remembered what had happened only a couple of hours ago at Grimmauld Place. She hadn't been that comfortable with telling anyone anything, and eventually she'd gotten Harry to kick everyone out anyway, much to their displeasure. Then, when it was just her, Harry and Ginny, she'd spilled the beans. Harry had been incensed at the liberty Malfoy had taken, and had offered to arrest him. But she'd told him that there were no grounds for that. Not really.

There _was_ a law for placing charmed items on a person when the charm was dangerous or did something like take a person's control away. But engagement rings were an exception to that law, and had been for centuries. And since Hermione hadn't really reacted to Malfoy putting the ring on her finger until it was too late, a loophole in the magic and the law kept him safe from repercussions.

Ginny, on the other hand, thought it was brilliant. When she said that, her own fiancé had looked at her like she was mad, before Ginny elaborated.

" _It's brilliant because it's Malfoy," she said. "He told her he wants to choose his own life, right? And with his parents publicly reformed, this'll probably end up showing people if they're privately reformed or not. If Draco Malfoy gets disinherited, it's not going to be long before people find out, y'know?"_

That was indeed true. Sighing, Hermione wondered if the senior Malfoy's knew yet about their son's out there plan. Did they know a mudblood wore their family ring? She looked down at the ring on her hand, then sighed again. It really was beautiful, goblin made, she could tell, platinum set with a diamond and two emeralds. Who knew how many generations of pureblood women had worn it? And now, it was on _her_ hand…

It was quite late, so Hermione decided that it was time to turn in, so she went through her nightly ritual then snuggled into her comfortable bed. She heard a small miaow, then Crookshanks suddenly jumped up onto the bed with her, demanding attention, which he received. Hermione was using her left hand, and when Crooks discovered the ring, he sniffed it briefly before ignoring it in favour of more caresses. Hermione smiled down at her familiar and decided to do the same and ignore the ring, just for now.

Tomorrow she would be meeting with Malfoy to research ways to remove the offending piece of jewellery, and she needed to be well rested. So she lay back in bed, letting fantasies of hexing the inbred git send her off to sleep.

 **So, what did you think? Review please! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**For the people who think that Draco is moving in with Hermione…**

 **Nnnnnnnooooooooo…**

 **Imagine that was said really slowly, with a slow shake of the head.**

 **In any case, yay! A chapter! I've been so exhausted every night after my barista training, that I've hardly felt like doing anything but sleep. And while I am still a bit tired, I think my body is finally getting used to getting up so early. Which will help during the work placement that I only found out about when I started on Monday! But anyway, I'm making coffee tomorrow! :) All the theory is out of the way, and now it's time for the practical! It's all just four parts of a Certificate III in Hospitality, but apparently when and if we get work, we're gonna get the rest of that certificate as a 'working student'.**

 **Anyway, I've rambled long enough. ;) Disclaimer and enjoy, folks.**

 **Chapter Eight**

At nine the next morning, Draco and Blaise apparated to a magically concealed suburb in London. The basic functions of the place were the same as Diagon Alley, only this was hiding several blocks of homes. It was not physically hidden in the way Diagon was, but the enchantments were generally the same. Muggles walked, and even drove, right past without noticing anything, their eyes glazing over the intersections.

It was one of two magical suburbs, with the other one being incredibly pricey and high-end, for the rich and snooty. This one was more of a working class sort, with the residents being a mix of Healers, Ministry workers, shop workers, and such. Blaise's lady friend owned one of the houses, though she apparently lived in the British countryside with family. The dwelling, which was a small, one bedroom house, had apparently been vacant for a few months now, and the witch in question was glad to be leasing it out.

Draco had enough to cover bills for quite some time, but he was going to have to find himself a job. If his parents changed their minds about disowning him, then that would be great, but Draco wanted a backup plan. His schedule had been hastened by necessity, thanks to Pansy, and he knew that he was lucky to find something at such short notice.

"This way," Blaise directed, and the two wizards walked through the street until they came to a quaint little residence.

Draco followed Blaise up the little path to the little house, and his friend knocked on the door. Draco was quite surprised when the door opened and Looney Lovegood, of all people, answered the door.

"Blaise, Draco, I'm so glad you're here," she said in a kind of far-off voice. "The blooming caterwauls had me worried you'd be late. Come in, come in."

The two wizards followed the looney witch indoors and she gave them a tour. Everything was pretty basic, perfect for the single witch or wizard, Draco decided, though obviously smaller than he was used to. That would undoubtedly take some getting used to. Once they returned to the kitchen, Luna had him signing forms, with Blaise acting as witness, and after every document was signed, she would wave her wand over it, muttering something that Draco could never quite catch, until finally, they were done.

"Here's the keys," Luna said, handing over a set. "I suppose now you'll be hurrying off to see Hermione, then?"

"How do you know about that?" Draco demanded, looking at Blaise, who denied responsibility with a look and a shrug.

"We were all at Harry's for dinner last night, and everyone saw the ring," Luna said. "She mentioned briefly that she would be meeting you today. I think it's perfectly lovely, the two of you, but Harry and Ron are quite irate. They'll get over it eventually, they both want Hermione to be happy, of course."

"Of course," Draco said slowly, eyeing the witch sceptically.

Luna smiled quite dreamily at him, and there was an awkward silence (unless you were Lovegood) until Blaise cleared his throat and said, "Luna, my sweet? Now that everything's sorted, perhaps we should leave Draco to get settled and then get ready?"

Luna nodded. "Of course," she assented. "Good bye then, Draco, and good luck with Hermione. She's a delicate blossom, though she tries to seem tough."

The wacky witch practically floated out the door, and Blaise said his farewells, then he followed Luna, a rather disturbing look of captivation on his face that made Draco want to puke. Instead he sighed, looked around his new place, and started unpacking. He finished with the aid of magic in only ten minutes, with plenty of time to spare before he heading off to meet with his reluctant, but rather feisty fiancée.

 **I love Bluna! It's so sweet and fluffy, like a bunny rabbit! Lol! ;) Review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**New chapter! Yay! Anyway, Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer, not mine.**

 **Chapter Nine**

When Hermione got in to her office that morning, she found Harry waiting for her.

"What brings you to my office today, auror Potter?" she asked.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Harry told her. "Make sure you were all good, what with the ruckus last night, and, y'know, your 'meeting' today."

"Don't you have work to do?" she asked.

"Nope," he told her as he made himself comfortable in chair across from her.

"Not even paperwork?"

"All done."

"Really? I find that hard to believe."

"It's true," he told her. "All documents signed, and reports filled out. Really, Hermione, how could you doubt me?"

"Hmm. Alright then, if you've got no work to do, why don't you go duel in the auror training room?" Hermione suggested.

"There's no one in there," Harry told her, and she raised an eyebrow. "The rookies are on a field trip, and most everyone else is off on assignment."

"Well then, why don't you go home?"

"There's no one there, I'll get bored."

"Then why don't you go visit Ginny at the Burrow?"

"She's spending the day shopping with one of her friends."

"Molly might like a visit."

"She's visiting with Bill and Fleur."

"What about Ron?"

"He's busy. Besides, he's still pissed about last night, and I don't want to be around him when he's angry."

"So you'll just dump him on his partner, then?"

"Maxfield can handle him just fine."

Hermione was beyond frustrated by this point, "Well, what about Dean and Seamus? Neville? Surely you could go visit with them?"

"Why Hermione," Harry said sweetly. "It sounds like you don't want me here. How could that be?"

Hermione glared at him. "For your information, Mr Potter, I happen to have a very busy morning planned!"

"Important meetings, paper work, that sort of thing?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Hermione told him. "My first meeting's in twenty minutes, and I really need to prepare. Could you please go so that I can get to work?"

"Of course," Harry said, standing, then asked as he reached the door, "Just out of curiosity, who's your first appointment?"

"Malcolm Pressling," she told him. "We're meeting about the new Centaur law."

Harry nodded and left her office.

Hermione's day was going to be pretty busy, but not because it was filled with appointments. Before the whole Malfoy fiasco, she was intending to get in some research for upcoming lawsuits she would be working on, after she'd met with Pressling. But Malfoy was going to be here at ten, only half an hour after meeting Pressling. She opened the middle drawer of her desk to go through her work journal, only to find it missing. A quick search had her locating it in the top drawer, where she kept a lot of stationary and such.

Her eyes narrowed, and Hermione whipped out her wand and cast a few diagnostic spells over it. With her suspicions confirmed, she stood and was about to go march off and find Harry, when there was a knock and Pressling entered her office at her okay. Delayed in exacting her revenge, Hermione had time to cool off as she worked out specifics for the centaurs, and when Pressling was gone, she sat back in her chair to mull things over.

Obviously Harry had been rooting through her stuff, though why, she had no idea. Perhaps he wanted to know when she was meeting Malfoy, but that wasn't in her work journal. In fact, she hadn't written it anywhere, reluctant to record meeting with Malfoy about _anything_ that wasn't even slight work related. Still, she figured Harry was probably still loitering around somewhere, waiting to get the jump on Malfoy.

At precisely ten past ten, there was a knock on the door, and Hermione called out, "Come in!" Harry walked in and looked around, before disappointment flashed across his face.

"Hey Hermione, I'm back," he said, looking as innocent as he possibly could.

OoOoO

In the corridors of the Ministry, Draco Malfoy was lost. He wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, all that he knew was that his head felt a little fuzzy. As he wandered, the confusion slowly melted away, and as it did, a vague memory of hearing a whispered 'confundus' rose, and he cursed. Whoever did that to him had made him late to meet Granger, and as he made his way over to the _other_ side of the Ministry, he had no idea just what was waiting for him there.

 **So what did you think? Review please. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi there! I've been binge watching Dragonball Z** (only three more episodes left!) **, and Hermione is channelling Chi-Chi in this. I could hear Chi-Chi yelling in my head the whole time I was writing this. ;)**

 **Disclaimer, enjoy, and no one is killing Harry, because otherwise my sister would kill** _ME_ **, and I wanna LIVE!**

 **Chapter Ten**

 **" _HOW COULD YOU!?"_**

Draco stopped at the door at the yell, a little startled. He was at Granger's office finally, at half ten, and the yell had come from the other side of the door. She didn't sound distressed or anything, so he decided that he would listen in on whatever was happening in there before deciding on what to do.

" _You had no right going through my things in here! Did you really think I wouldn't be able to tell? What on earth did you think you would accomplish by invading my privacy? Well? Are you going to answer me,_ **Harry Potter** _, or am I going to have to force it out of you?"_

Draco's brows rose in surprise as he realised that Granger was yelling at Potter, of all people, and he'd what? Snooped through her belongings? He smirked as he eavesdropped further.

" _What was I supposed to do? You say you're engaged to Malfoy, and that there's no legal way out, but you refuse to elaborate! Ginny may think it's brilliant, but_ **I** _don't!"_

" _What were you supposed to do? **WHAT WERE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO**!? You were supposed to leave it alone! I told you that I would handle it! I _**told** _you that I would get your help if I needed it! But what you weren't supposed to do was go behind my back and **SEARCH MY OFFICE**! Do you realise how much trouble you would be in if I _**reported** _you?"_

Draco frowned slightly, just knowing that Granger _wasn't_ going to report her friend. No matter that he invaded her office, the two of them had been through so much, she probably figured that yelling at him, then perhaps ignoring him for a bit would be enough. Potter really was lucky to have a friend like Granger; if any of _his_ friends ever did that, Draco would likely bury them.

" _Uh…_ **Are** _you going to report me?"_

Potter sounded a bit terrified, and Draco soaked it in gleefully. There was a sigh.

" _I really should… But I won't. Just know that if this sort of thing ever happens again, you won't be so lucky,_ **Potter** _."_

There was a bit of silence for a moment, and Draco was about to knock and make his presence known, when Granger spoke again.

" _You need to leave now, Harry. Malfoy should be here soon… Actually, he should have been here already. I wonder what's keeping him?"_

There was a weird cough, then Draco's hackles rose when Potter spoke again.

" _He- er- That is, I kinda…"_

Draco missed what Potter said, but Granger sure let him know what he'd missed.

" _ **WHAT?!**_ _You_ **confunded** _him!_ _ **"**_

" _I just didn't want him getting here before I did! I wanted to be here for the meeting to make sure he didn't try anything funny!"_

Draco mentally shot daggers through the door, hoping they hit Potter, and he was about to march in there, when Granger kicked the scarred saviour out.

" _Get out, Harry, I've had enough of you for now!"_

"... _Just for now?"_

" _ **OUT!**_ _"_

Draco was standing there, arms crossed and signature smirk plastered across his face when Potter opened the office door, losing quite a bit of colour in his face at the sight of him.

"Potter," Draco greeted. "Fancy seeing you here."

 **So what did you think? Review please. :)**

 **Ps: I'm probably gonna go back to the start of Dragonball Z when I finish it. :P**

 **Pps: My work placement isn't starting until _after_ the New Year, now. :(**


	11. Chapter 11

**New chapter, hope you like it. :)**

 **Disclaimer, the characters aren't mine.**

 **Chapter Eleven**

As soon as Harry opened the door, he froze in place. Hermione tilted her neck slightly to the side and saw that Malfoy was standing outside, looking incredibly smug. What in Merlin's name for? Then she realised that he must have heard the argument that she'd just had with Harry, and knew that the former Slytherin was going to make things difficult for her interfering friend. Not that he didn't deserve it, but still… Anyway, maybe it would _actually_ teach Harry a lesson about privacy, for a change.

"Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed, then demanded once he'd regained his composure, "Just how much of that did you hear?"

"Quite a bit," Malfoy told him. "So, you make a habit of snooping through your friend's personal belongings, do you? And I thought only people like Parkinson and Bulstrode did that sort of thing."

"Bugger off Malfoy, you prat!" Harry seethed, clearly not responding well to the look on Malfoy's face, or the tone of his voice.

"I'm afraid I can't accommodate you," Malfoy said rather smugly. "I have an appointment with Granger here, after all. Can't leave a witch waiting for me like that; I'm a gentleman, after all."

"You're already late for your appointment, _Malfoy_ ," Harry snarked at him.

"Only because you confunded me," the blond wizard reminded him, and Harry's stance lost all of its antagonism.

"Now, look here, Malfoy, couldn't we just…"

"Not going to happen, Potter," Malfoy said. "We're not at Hogwarts anymore, you can't go around confounding people and just expect to get away with it, especially not on Ministry property."

Malfoy slid his gaze to Hermione, as she had stood up and could see him properly now. He winked at her, and she flushed, mostly because she was reminded of that time she'd confunded McLaggen at Hogwarts. Did Malfoy know about that? In any case, his gaze returned to Harry and he continued on.

"I will be speaking with the Head Auror," he said. "Don't worry, I don't doubt you'll just be getting a slap on the wrist, and indubitably a suspension from work. But chin up, Potter! I'm sure you'll be back to chasing the bad guys in no time at all, saving the wizarding world one day at a time! But until then, Granger and I have an appointment, and you need to leave."

"Now look here Malfoy!" Harry snarked, gaining a second wind with his anger, but Hermione decided it was time to let the wind out of his sails.

"Leave, Harry," she interrupted him. "I'm already behind today as it is because of your interference with my schedule, and there is a _lot_ to go through."

Harry looked like he wanted to protest, but eventually he nodded and left, though not without a parting glare at Malfoy. Speaking of, the prat she was engaged to was looking inordinately pleased with himself, and Hermione decided to focus his attention back on what he was actually supposed to be here for.

"Malfoy?" she said, and his gaze met hers. "We've got business to discuss, remember?"

He nodded to her and stepped into her office completely, closing the door behind him before sitting in the chair Harry had recently vacated. Hermione took a deep breath and retook her own seat, before raising her eyes to meet his and asking, "Right, where should we begin?"

 **So what did you think? Review please. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm going to see the new Star Wars on Thursday! Yay!**

 **Disclaimer, enjoy, etcetera, etcetera…**

 **Chapter Twelve**

Draco simply stared at the witch in front of him, not really knowing the answer to that. Maybe if he stared just long enough, then she would…

"How about we start with the legal texts?" Granger spoke, though her expression and tone of voice suggested that she wasn't really expecting an answer from him. "Then maybe move on to any texts available on the subject of bonding rings. Hmm… Viridian Curio's book should have _something_ , at least."

Had he just become superfluous in her quest for knowledge? Merlin, he knew she was a swot at school, but apparently she was still the same old know it all Granger. Realising that somehow made Draco feel that they were actually going to do this, they were actually going to break a centuries old pureblood charm. He felt like smirking, but reigned it in just in case she refocused her attention on him. Sure enough, she looked up a moment later, seeming to only just remember that he was there.

"Well, Malfoy?" she asked in a tone that suggested she was trying to make it look like she _hadn't_ forgotten about him. "What's your opinion?"

"I actually have a couple of books here," Draco said, pulling two tiny tomes from his pockets and resizing them with his wand. "It's lucky I was able to get these _before_ my parents kicked me out."

"What?" Granger seemed shocked. "You've been kicked out? But why?"

"Why do you think, Granger?" Draco asked sarcastically, and she flushed slightly as realisation hit her.

"Oh, right," she mumbled. "I didn't think you would tell them so soon, to be honest."

"I didn't," he told her. "Pansy did. Apparently she saw us yesterday, and went crying to my parents."

Granger gingerly took the two books he'd held out to her, and he told her, "Be careful handling those. They're really old, really valuable books."

She glared at him. "I _know_ how to handle books, Malfoy," she derided, then pointed at a filing cabinet. "There's a few scrolls and books in the middle drawer dealing with the laws regarding these spells. Maybe you could look through them while I read these?"

Draco glared at her for the dismissive way she spoke, but she'd already turned her attention to her brand new reading material. Sighing, he got up and found what she'd indicated then sat back down and started reading. Over an hour later, though, and he hadn't really found anything useful, other than the fact that the Ministry could void any contract made, as long as it didn't deal in blood, which the rings did, unfortunately. That information was in the book Granger hadn't picked up first, and she was on that now, so she should be finding out for herself soon enough.

"Dammit!" There we go.

Reading through the legal documents didn't really take long, and once it was done, Draco found himself with nothing to do again. So he sat back and watched Granger read. It was a pretty intense experience; with the amount of concentration she was putting into it, he wondered if her head was going to explode. Figuratively, of course. Still, watching her like this afforded him the chance to really study her, something he'd never properly done.

In the past, he'd made fun of her for her bushy hair, but these days, it seemed she'd managed to get it under control, and her curls fell in stylish ringlets. And he noticed that her hair wasn't just brown, but seemed to have a few auburn highlights in them. The way they framed her pale face made him shift in his seat. It seemed that Granger had grown up to be quite the looker, and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. She glanced up at him, and as he noted that her eyes were a rather warm and inviting caramel, (and not the dirt toned brown he'd believed them to be in school) he knew that these little revelations of his were going to complicate things.

Great. Just great.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **Ps: Over 90 percent of Britain is white, it's a statistical fact. People felt that JK was under-representing other ethnicities in her books, but really, according to the numbers, she actually wasn't. But of course people don't care, so she's endured years of abuse over it. Just saying.**


	13. Chapter 13

**New chapter! Woot!**

 **Disclaimer is here…**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Nothing. All that reading, and there was nothing. Hermione sighed as she closed the book, and leaned back, looking up at Malfoy. She was quite surprised to find him watching her, and raised an eyebrow at him. He raised his own in mockery, and she sighed once more.

"Just how long have you been finished looking through the legal documents?" she asked.

"Quite awhile," he told her. "I would have let you know, but you seemed to be quite intent on my books."

Hermione glanced down at the books and then over to her clock, noting that it was a quarter past one. "We should take a break," she told him. "Have lunch, then at two, meet me in the Ministry library."

Hermione stood and Malfoy followed suit. "Where were you planning on eating?" he asked her. "Maybe I could join you?"

Eyes wide, Hermione did her best not to gape at him, but she was sure some of her shock came through that way. "Don't look at me like that," he told her. "I just thought we could discuss everything we read this morning."

"Oh! Um… I usually eat at a little muggle café near here," she informed him. "I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in that."

She saw him swallow nervously, before he said, "I'm sure it would be fine…"

So it was that ten minutes later, the two of them were sitting at a table for two outside Hermione's regular lunch place, and she was resisting laughing at the sight of Draco Malfoy in the muggle world, looking as comfortable as a mouse trying to make nice with a hungry cat. Still, at least he'd actually listened to her suggestion to get rid of his robes, he would have really stood out in those. The clothes he'd had on underneath his robes were expensive looking black slacks and a black shirt.

They talked about their research and the fact that neither of them really found anything, both hoping that they would at least make some sort of headway with the Ministry books. "The Malfoy library probably has the answer tucked away somewhere," he told her. "It is quite unfortunate that we shall have to proceed without it, thanks to my familial renouncement. But I'm sure between the two of us, we can figure it out."

"I hope so," Hermione told him. "Otherwise, we're likely going to have to actually get married, and let me tell you, if that happens, I'm going to make sure you pay for it every single day!"

The stupid git barely raised an eyebrow at that.

Once their meal was done, they paid for their food, and began the walk back to the Ministry. "You've really surprised me today, Malfoy," she told him. "Going out into the muggle world, when I know how you feel about them."

"Oh really?" he asked. "Pray tell, how _do_ I feel about them?"

Hermione stopped walking and turned to look at him as she spoke. "You dislike them," she said. "Everyone knows that you and your family aren't fond of muggles and muggleborns."

He sighed, closed his eyes briefly, then looked directly into her own eyes before informing her, "I don't hate or dislike muggles, or even muggleborns for that matter. Yes, my parents are still holding on to those prejudices, but I left those ideals behind a long time ago. After all, if I still had a problem with you and your heritage, I never would have considered putting the Malfoy family ring on your finger, no matter how smart they all say you are."

He took off walking then, and Hermione stared after him, a little shocked at his words. To further her surprise, she felt her gaze drift downwards until her eyes were glued to the sight of his firm rear in those deliciously form fitting pants of his. Blushing furiously at the train her thoughts were headed on, Hermione forced herself to look up and started walking after him, picking up the pace to catch up to the puzzling wizard ahead of her.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Goodbye 2015! Except for February, when you dumped a cyclone on my head and then made me swelter in the heat for six days with no electricity and not much food, you were a good one. ;)**

 **Disclaimer and such…**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

The Ministry library was huge, much larger than the Hogwarts one. Of course, Hogwarts had to take in to account that they were catering for children, so certain types of books were not even on school grounds. Some books obviously slipped through the net, _*cough* horcrux books! *cough*_ but for the most part, they were all student friendly. Well, friendly-ish. After all, Hermione knew that a certain biting book was still lurking somewhere in the Hogwarts stacks…

In any case, in the largest library in Britain, by about three hundred books, (the magical library in Bath was the second) Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy poured over the blood magic section, trying to find any clue on the origin of bonding spells. Their time today was running out, however, as they'd been in here for hours, and both of them had places they needed to be later. For Draco, he'd promised to have drinks with Theo and Blaise tonight, and Granger was going to be visiting with her parents.

It was getting close to six, and Draco looked at his watch for a more accurate time. Shit! It was _after_ six! Glancing up, he saw that Granger was engrossed in what she was reading, but he knew he needed to interrupt her, since she'd said that she needed to be out of here by six thirty.

"Granger."

No response.

"Granger!"

"What?" she demanded irritably, not even glancing up from her book.

"It's ten past six, don't you need to be somewhere soon?" he reminded her.

Granger's gaze snapped up to the clock in the room and she cursed, standing up and gathering her things together. "Damn it all!" she swore. "Where's did I put the Argonius book!"

"It's right in front of you," Draco told her, gathering his own things as well.

"Oh, thanks," she said, then asked, "Are you going to head off to meet your friends now?"

"That's not for another couple of hours," he told her.

The two of them walked out of the library, after placing their books back in the stacks, and headed off towards the Ministry's exit. There was silence as they went, neither of them really seeming to have anything to say. Draco was still contemplating this new view he had of Granger, and who knew what _she_ was thinking. During their research in the library, Draco had stolen a number of glances at the witch he'd dragged into his life, trying to figure out what it was that was suddenly so appealing about her. Sure, he'd noticed that she was all grown up and looking incredibly fit, but so were a lot of other witches he'd gone to school with.

In any case, Draco had decided that if the feelings continued, he might do something about it after this was all over. Until then, he would concentrate on getting this engagement broken, and worry about the feisty witch's promise to hex him once that was done. Brushing up on protective charms was definitely on the tables for him.

They'd reached the main foyer with the floo's, and they stopped in front of the grand fireplaces. "Well, I guess this is my stop," Granger said, and Draco quirked an eyebrow.

"Did you just make a casual joke, Granger?" he asked.

"I guess so," she told him. "Are we meeting up again tomorrow?"

"Sure, but don't you have work to do?"

"Things are pretty slow, until a new case comes in," she told him. "Well, there's a thing with centaurs, but that's mostly being handled by a representative, and I'll only be contacted if there's an emergency."

"A _thing_?"

"It's classified, Malfoy, I can't tell you."

He had a feeling that she was lying, but let it be. "Well, goodnight, Granger. Shall I meet you at your office, or the library?"

"The library," she told him. "At ten again, if you want."

After his nod, she gathered up some floo powder and called out her address before disappearing into the flames. Draco stood there a moment, staring at the spot she'd just vacated, before he also threw in a pinch of floo powder and went back to his new home.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Parental love. :)**

 **Disclaimer, not mine.**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

Hermione arrived at her parent's place on time, ready for anything they might have to say. She'd considered concealing the ring with gloves again, but that hadn't really worked the last time. She'd also considered telling them that it was a Weasley trick ring, and wouldn't come off until a certain time had elapsed, but the ring screamed wealth that her parents would definitely pick up on, especially her mother. Lucinda Granger came from an upper class family in Spain, though she had been born, and lived her entire life, in England.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione reached forward and rang the doorbell, then waited for one of her parents to appear. She knew she was going to have to come clean about the ring, and she only hoped that they didn't blow up like practically everyone else had. She forced a smile to her face as her father, Anthony Granger, opened the door.

"Hermione, love!" he greeted her, engulfing her in a warm hug.

"Hey dad," Hermione hugged back, then followed her father inside.

She was really glad that, when she retrieved her parents and restored their memories, that they had accepted that she was only trying to protect them. Well, at first there had been some arguments, but then Harry and Ron, who had both gone with her, had told her parents everything that had happened, what muggleborns and their families had suffered, and the Grangers had realised that they were lucky that Voldemort hadn't been able to track them down. Hermione was still scolded for taking all of this on herself, but at least now they understood.

The smell of dinner was quite intoxicating, and Hermione forgot about her ring in favour of sitting down to enjoy a meal with her parents, at least until her mother noticed it and asked, "Hermione, dear, where did you get such an exquisite ring?"

Hermione glanced down at the ring on her finger, then up at her parents, who were waiting expectantly, then she sighed. "It's an engagement ring," she told them, before her father interrupted what she was about to say.

" _Absolutely not!_ " he bellowed. "There's no way you're marrying someone without us even meeting him! What on _earth_ were you thinking _!?_ "

"Now, now, dear," Lucinda said calmly. "I'm sure whoever it is, Hermione will bring him by. Tell me, sweetheart, is it Ronald? No offence, but I didn't think he would be able to afford such an expensive ring."

Hermione took a deep breath and told them, "It's Draco Malfoy."

Her parents looked at her blankly, before comprehension dawned on her father's face and he growled, "You mean that little shit who was so cruel to you in school?"

Hermione nodded, then said, "But it's not a real engagement," and proceeded to explain everything.

Her mother had her hand on her heart the whole time, then she gasped dramatically when her daughter fell silent. "Oh, that sounds so wonderful!" she declared. "I think it's a good thing that he wants to run his own life, but sweetheart, what if you can't break this enchantment?"

"What on earth could be wonderful about the fact that our little girl could end up married to that bully?" her father demanded. "I don't care how much he may or may not have changed, he's still the little snot who hurt our girl!"

As her parents argued back and forth, Hermione smiled at their dedication to her. She was glad that her mother was so accepting of this, and at the same time, felt happy that her father was standing up for her so fervently. However, her good feeling started failing when she heard her mother's words, and they rang loudly in her head long after she'd gone home.

" _Hermione sweetheart, you_ must _invite the boy over for dinner soon."_

She was so screwed.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hiya! Here's a new chapter for you! This is actually the third draft, because the first two times I tried to write this chapter, I hated what I came up with. But I'm much happier with this one. :)**

 **Anyway, enjoy, and disclaimer!**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

When Draco arrived at the pub he was meeting Theo and Blaise at, he wondered if Theo knew about his 'engagement' yet. He wouldn't put it past Blaise to have already told him, but he also thought he might wait just so he could see how Draco would react to Theo's reaction. Grimacing at either idea, Draco pushed open the door to the pub and walked in.

He immediately spotted his friends in their usual booth, and headed over to join them. There were the usual greetings, manly pats on back, gruff hello's and such, then Theo started in straight away with, "So, Daphne tells me Astoria's been rather excited of late."

"Oh really?" Draco asked, noting that Blaise looked _quite_ interested in the topic.

"Yup," was Theo's response. "Apparently, Astoria found out that Pansy's incredibly mad at you about something, so she figures it's only a matter of time before your ring is on _her_ finger instead of Parkinson's."

Blaise snorted indelicately at that, and Draco glared at him, while Theo raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Oh, not much," Blaise said, trying but failing to look contrite, and Draco's eyes narrowed at him. The bastard was enjoying this a little too much, in his opinion.

"Anyway," Theo went on, "Daphne's real excited by the prospect. She thinks the two of you would be perfect for each other."

"Only because she has no idea what her little sister is _really_ like," Blaise said. "Or maybe she does, and she's just being deliberately obtuse about it."

"Hey!" Theo defended his wife. "Daphne is _not_ dense!"

"Then what would you call her blatant ignorance of Astoria's horrid personality?" Blaise shot at him.

"She loves her sister, that's what I'd call it!" Theo snapped at him.

"Would you two shut it?" Draco demanded, and his friends gave each other a final glare before turning to Draco.

"Well then, why don't you tell Theo what lucky witch will wear the Malfoy family ring?" Blaise asked, his shite eating grin returning.

"Yeah, tell me," Theo agreed. "Maybe I could take some good news home to Daph."

Draco glared at Blaise, then took a deep breath and told Theo in one go, "I decided that I wasn't going to let my parents dictate my future anymore, so yesterday I put the ring on Hermione Granger's finger."

Silence. Theo's jaw hung loose in astonishment, and Draco wondered if he was going to have to do something to snap his friend out of his stupor, but then suddenly Theo was laughing. "Oh, hahaha! You had me going there, mate! Hahaha! As if you'd do that! Hahaha!"

Draco and Blaise just stared at their hysterically cackling friend, who eventually realised that he was the only one laughing, and that shocked look came back onto his face. "Wait, you really did it?" he asked. "You actually put your family ring on Granger's finger, knowing what could happen? You're kidding me, right?"

"He's not," Blaise told him. "He really did it, and now he's making her help him break the enchantment, so that he can marry who he wants to. Also, his parents have kicked him out over it."

"Merlin's saggy balls, really?!" Theo gaped. "I mean, it's no shocker your folks kicked you out, but _seriously_?"

Draco sighed. "Could we please not talk about this anymore?" he asked.

"But I wanna know more!" Theo whined. "Has Granger hexed you yet? Have you received any threatening letters from her friends? Have her parents said anything about it?"

"No, no, and I don't know," Draco said. "Though Granger was supposed to go see her parents tonight. I suppose she's already told them by now."

"Maybe they'll want to meet you," Blaise suggested. "I think a lot of muggle parents insist on the 'meet the boyfriend' thing. Or in this case, fiancé."

"Oh, Draco Malfoy in a muggle house, that I've got to see!" Theo laughed, and Draco gave him the two fingered salute.

The idea of having to meet Granger's parents, though, set Draco's nerves on edge, and for the rest of the night, he was drinking quite heavily. Finally, incredibly intoxicated, he decided that he was going to floo to her house (he'd filched her address from her office earlier that day) and tell her _exactly_ why he thought that was a bad idea.

 **So, Hermione's going to have a very drunk visitor soon. ;) Review please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Three updates in one day… I'm so proud! *sniffs***

 **Lol, that aside, I hope you like this chapter that I disclaim, and other such nonsense. :)**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

The wards going off in her house woke her up, and Hermione dashed to her feet, wand in hand, stumbling a little from sleep. As silently as she could, she made her way to her living room where her fireplace was, and could hear muffled grunts and some swearing. Taking a deep breath and steadying her nerves, she said a quick prayer, then burst into the room, stupefy falling easily from her tongue.

Once she was sure that the intruder was well and truly stunned, she flicked on the light, then gasped. _Malfoy_ was here, though how he got past her wards, she had no idea. He lay there, body twisted with his mouth open and dribbling a little drool, and suddenly, all Hermione wanted to do was laugh. She had no idea why; after all, he'd _broken in_ , but that was just the way it was. Using her wand, she levitated him to her couch and cleaned him up a bit, before casting rennervate.

"Wha-who..? Where am I?" he slurred groggily, and with a snort of disgust, Hermione realised he was drunk.

"My house," she told him curtly. "Though I don't know how the hell you made it past my wards!"

Malfoy tried to get up, but Hermione prodded him back down with her wand. "Uh-uh, mister!" she told him. "Not until you tell me how you got past my wards, and drunk, no less!"

"Tha's a stupid question," he muttered incoherently.

"No it's not. _How_ did you get in?"

Malfoy didn't answer, but instead held up his hand in a fist, ring finger up and engagement ring facing her. "How else?" he told her.

Hermione sighed and lowered her wand. "Of course," she muttered quietly, then louder, "You have to leave, Malfoy."

He stood unsteadily then, and stumbled towards her, and she instinctively reached out to steady him, finding herself burdened with an armful of drunk wizard. "But I have t' talk to you," he told her. "'Cept… I don' really remember what for… It was important, though."

"Did it have anything to do with your friends?" she asked him, trying to lead him back to the couch, but then all he did was pull her down with him. "Are they mad at you?"

"Nah!" Malfoy told her with a grin, waving the idea off, his hand narrowly missing her head. "They thinks it's great. 'Specially Blaise, he thinks we should get mar- mar- er, we should get hitched, or somethin'…"

"You told him that wasn't going to happen, right?" Hermione said carefully, eyes narrowed as she wondered if she would need to hex someone's bits off.

"'Course!" Malfoy told her, sounding quite indignant that she thought otherwise. "But he still thinks it's funny, anyways. Theo too, though he promised not to tell Tori."

"Tori?"

" _A-stor-i-a_ ," Malfoy pronounced carefully. "Only Daphne's allowed to call her Tori, y'know?"

"Whatever, Malfoy," Hermione dismissed, trying and failing to stand up, since his arms were still firm about her waist. "Let me up, Malfoy, you have to floo home."

"Too pissed," he mumbled, and leaned forward to bury his face in her hair by her neck. Hermione froze as he basically nuzzled her. "Yer sho pretty, didja know? Not like in school. You were sho frizzy then, but now you're shmooth and silky, like… like… silk! And you shmell nice, too."

He pulled back from her then, and Hermione was terrified that he was going to try to kiss her. She _hated_ kissing drunk people, they were so sloppy and smelly, even if they were perfect at snogging while sober. Viktor was the worst with that, in her experience, not that she'd actually dated everyone that she'd ever kissed while they were drunk. That's what parties were for, after all.

Her fears became reality as Malfoy leaned down and locked their lips together, though thankfully it wasn't as sloppy as she was fearing. In fact, a little slop aside, it was actually quite nice. _Too_ nice, she decided, as her body decided to start responding, and she began kissing him back, arms coming up around his neck. _Merlin_ , he was good at this, and she dreaded to think just how much she'd enjoy this if he were _sober_!

Hermione was really getting into the kiss, when suddenly, Malfoy went slack in her arms. With a disappointed sigh that she would later deny ever happened, she pulled back to look at him, then glared at him with all the deadliness she could muster when she realised that _the bastard was asleep!_ Growling in frustration, she shot to her feet, which caused Malfoy to fall forward, landing rather awkwardly on her couch. Hermione rearranged him so that he wouldn't be sore in the morning (he _owed_ her for that!) then stomped back to her own room in a huff, flushed and trying desperately not to think about that oh so wonderful kiss.

Malfoy was in for a _rude_ awakening in the morning!

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Here's the reason I haven't updated this before now: Cancer sucks! :( And now, I'm going to a funeral on Wednesday. :'(**

 **Anyway, please enjoy the chapter with characters I don't own.**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

He woke with a groan, which was apparently a bad idea. The sound echoed through his skull, even as he shut his mouth to prevent other sounds from making their appearance. Draco tried moving an arm, and that seemed fine, so he moved the arm all the way up to cover his eyes. Said eyes cracked open slightly, but the burning light of day seared them, and he let out an involuntary moan, which reverberated, causing his head to implode.

There was a muffled giggle.

What? Who was that? He was at home, right? So who was it that got into his place and was _giggling_ at his misery? Draco cracked an eye open again, prepared this time for the blinding light, and as he forced his vision to adjust, he saw someone he didn't really expect in his home. How the hell did she find out where he lived?

"Granger?" he croaked. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, Malfoy," she said, confusing him, but then he looked around and saw that he was in an unfamiliar place.

"Shit," he muttered, and tried to sit up. "How the hell did I get here?"

"You flooed," Granger told him succinctly.

She was eyeing him peculiarly, and Draco felt quite uncomfortable under her gaze. She sighed, then asked, "What do you remember from last night?"

"I remember drinking, a _lot_ ," he told her. "Blaise and Theo kept asking questions about you, and…"

"Hold up," Granger interrupted. "You were discussing me with your friends?"

"Like you haven't done that with yours?" Draco snarked, then winced. "Merlin, Granger, I don't suppose you have any hangover potion handy?"

She sighed again, then reached into her pocket and handed him a vial, which he downed immediately. "I seriously considered _not_ giving this to you," she told him as the pain in his head and the nausea faded. "Especially after the way you conducted yourself last night."

He frowned. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, standing up just as she did.

"Let's just say, you were less than a gentleman," she told him. "Now, I want some answers from you, _sober_ answers. I want to know how you got my address, and how you got past my wards. You said something last night about the rings, but I want you to elaborate."

Draco sighed, and rubbed his temple with his fingers. "I saw your address when we were in your office yesterday," he told her. "I memorized it. As for the wards… Well, the enchantments on the rings make sure that one of us can always reach the other, regardless of wards. I believe Arcturus Malfoy added that when his wife refused him entry to their marriage bed back in the seventeenth century."

Granger made a disgusted sound, _naturally_. "Well, you should go home now," she told him. "Don't forget to meet me at the Ministry library at ten for our research."

"Alright then," Draco agreed. "Thanks for the potion."

He'd grabbed some floo powder and was about to throw it, when she said, "Wait, there's something I need to tell you."

Draco turned, and saw that the look on her face seemed a bit hesitant, and his curiosity was piqued. She was silent after he turned, and he simply stared at her until she spoke, "I know we're trying to break this engagement, and quite frankly, I refuse to believe that it's unbreakable. Nevertheless, my parents have… expressed an interest in meeting you."

Draco frowned at this. "Why?" he asked. "They know we're researching breaking it, don't they?"

"Well, yes," Granger admitted. "But my parents still want to…"

"Tell you what," Draco interrupted. "If we don't make any headway at the Ministry today, I'll consider it, alright?"

Granger nodded and Draco flooed home. Once he reached there, he realised that the idea of meeting the Grangers was ringing a bell, and by the time he'd eaten, showered and changed for the meeting at the Ministry, he'd remembered everything (almost) that had happened the previous night.

A devious smirk graced his lips.

 **So what did you think? Review please.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I hate the heat, just so you all know. :( It's too fricking hot to think! But it's night now, and cooler, so that helps.**

 **Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to start lengthening the time during and between the chapters soon. After all, this is almost twenty chapters in, and there's only about 48 hours covered! There are things I want to do, and it requires more time to pass, so that needs to be happening soon.**

 **Anyway, disclaimer and enjoy, folks! :)**

 **Chapter Nineteen**

Hermione was so wrapped up in what she was reading, that she didn't realise, when Malfoy arrived and sat in a chair opposite her, that he was late. Not until she checked her watch and noted that it was twenty to eleven.

"You're late," she told him. "Again."

"Sorry," he said with a shrug. "I got caught up in the auror office."

"What were you doing there?" Hermione questioned.

"Filing a complaint."

Oh. Right. _Harry_. "Do you know what they're going to do with him?" she asked.

"About what I thought," Malfoy said. "Two weeks suspension, and an official reprimand. Won't hurt his career, don't worry."

Hermione was relieved, even though the whole thing was Harry's fault in the first place.

"So," Malfoy said as she pushed a book towards him. "I want to apologise properly about last night."

"It's fine," Hermione told him.

"Regardless," Malfoy went on, "it was ungentlemanly of me to impose myself upon you like that."

"You were drunk," Hermione said. "I doubt that being a gentleman was top of your list. And besides, I said it was fine."

"So you're fine about the fact that we kissed?" he asked, and Hermione froze.

"I thought you said you didn't remember what happened last night," she spoke carefully.

"I didn't," he told her. "At least, not until I got home and cleaned myself up."

Hermione looked up to see that he was smirking at her, and she realised that he was teasing her, though not maliciously as he used to. "You prat!" she growled at him.

"Sorry," he apologised. "It was just too irresistible."

"Well, it _wasn't_ ok that you kissed me, just so you know."

"Really? You seemed to be enjoying it."

"I was not!"

"You kissed me back though."

" _I_ _did not_!"

Malfoy started laughing, and Hermione threw a blank parchment scroll at him. "Shut up!" she hissed at him.

"Sorry," he apologised again, but Hermione refused to believe him.

"Can we just drop it?" she asked, and he nodded, still chuckling.

They continued their research until lunch, when they headed off to the same café as the day before, and during their meal, Malfoy said something that had been niggling at Hermione. "I really doubt we're going to find anything in the Ministry," he said. "What we really need is access to a pureblood library, like the one at Malfoy manor."

"But we don't have access to that, because your parents kicked you out," Hermione pointed out.

"I'm aware of that," Malfoy said, a little defensively. "Maybe Theo could help out, though the Nott library isn't as comprehensive as the Malfoy one."

Hermione knew of a pureblood library that would likely suit their purposes, but she also knew that it was likely out of the question for the moment. There were a _lot_ of books in the Black library at Grimmauld Place, not even she had been able to go through them all yet. Maybe if she talked to Harry about it, he would let her take a look? There would undoubtedly be no way that he'd consider letting Malfoy into his home. Maybe her 'fiancé' could ask his friend about looking at his books, while Hermione spoke to Harry?

"Hello? Did you hear a word I said?"

Hermione was slightly startled out of her thoughts by Malfoy trying to get her attention. "Sorry," she said. "I was thinking."

"So I noticed," he commented snarkily, and she glared at him.

"What were you saying?" she asked.

"That when we're finished here, I'll go talk to Theo," Malfoy told her, echoing her thoughts. "Since tomorrow's Saturday, I don't think I'll be allowed into the Ministry library anyway, since I'm not an actual employee."

"Fine," she told him, and when lunch was over, they went their separate ways, with plans for Malfoy to owl her after visiting his friend.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **Ps: My cat lost her collar! :(**


	20. Chapter 20

**A new chapter! A bit of drama for you. ;)**

 **Disclaimer right here.**

 **Chapter Twenty**

Theo had replied quickly to Draco's owl and was more than happy for him to come over and check out his library. Naturally, a crude comment came with that line, but Draco easily ignored it. Once at Nott manor, he settled himself onto an antique Victorian chaise lounge to read. He'd gone through a few books, making a couple of notes on parchments, and had discovered a few interesting things. For example, back in the 1800's, the Notts had apparently practiced a weird divination to determine who their children married, which had later, unfortunately for them, been debunked.

The first couple of hours there were peaceful, but then that was shattered when the library door was flung open, and something, or rather someone, was flung at him. "Draco!" a voice screeched, a voice he unfortunately knew all too well.

"Astoria," Draco greeted, trying to extricate himself from her, while also making sure nothing happened to the books. "Could you please get off me?"

Astoria pulled back and pouted prettily at him. "I'm just so happy to see you," she said. "When I arrived to see Daph, I was overjoyed when I found out you were here, too!"

She lunged forward to hug him again, and Draco decided that it would probably be a good idea to stand up, to avoid any harm to the antique books, or even the chaise, for that matter. "Yes, well, I wasn't expecting _you_ here," Draco said.

"So it was a good surprise then?" Astoria asked, still refusing to give up her hold on him.

"Er…"

Astoria pulled back then, and took his hands in hers. "I know you've rejected Pansy as the next Lady Malfoy," she said, "so I've been hoping that that meant you realised that we are meant to be together! With both our family names, and your… _impressive_ Gringotts account, we'll be so happy together, won't we?"

Draco was about to reply, but then Astoria suddenly dropped his right hand and held up his left hand, inspecting it. "You're wearing your engagement ring," she said softly, then she smiled and held out her own left hand. "Oh Draco, you _did_ know that I was coming here, didn't you?! Of course the answer's yes!"

"Er, I haven't proposed to you," Draco said carefully.

"Of course, silly me!" Astoria exclaimed. "I suppose you want to be traditional and get down on one knee, like all those romantic proposals mummy told Daph and I about growing up!"

Draco sighed and decided that it might be better to just blurt it out. "I'm not marrying you, Astoria."

Wide eyes, quivering lower lip, tears shining and threatening to spill over. Fuck! She was going to cry, wasn't she? Yup, there it was.

"Wahh!" Astoria cried, and buried her face in her hands.

She pulled out a frilly handkerchief and wept into that, even as she wailed in a hiccupping voice, "Why? We're s-supposed to be to-together! W-we were g-going to live at M-Malfoy manor a-and have a be-be-beautiful baby boy named S-Scorpius, be-because d-daddy s-said that w-was wh-what L-Lucius s-said you wanted t-t-to n-name…. Wahh!"

"Astoria! WOULD YOU CALM DOWN!?" Draco yelled over her cries, but all that did was cause her to cry louder.

"What's going on in here?"

Shit.

Daphne strode into the room, closely followed by Theo. "Tori, honey?" Daphne said, coming forward to embrace her weeping sister. "What's wrong?" She turned to glare at Draco. "What did you do?"

"He s-said he's n-not ma-marrying me!" Astoria wailed anew, clinging tightly to Daphne.

Daphne rounded on Draco. "Why would you say something so cruel?" she demanded.

That was it! He wasn't going to take any shit for this. "Because it's the truth," Draco said. "I'm not marrying Pansy, and I'm not marrying Astoria!"

"Well, you have to marry someone!" Daphne shot back. "Who _else_ is available that your parents would approve of, anyway?"

"Lucius and Narcissa have thrown him out," Theo interjected, which shocked both of the women before them. Astoria even stopped crying.

"Why?" Daphne asked.

Theo looked at Draco, who simply shrugged. Theo turned to his wife and said, "Two days ago, Draco put the Malfoy family engagement ring onto the finger of none other than Hermione Granger."

Silence.

" _NOOOOOOOO!"_

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **Ps: Apparently it's going to rain here this week.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi there! This isn't as exciting as the last chapter, but it's setting up a couple of things. In any case, I hope you like it. :)**

 **Disclaimer stamped and dated. :P**

 **Chapter Twenty One**

When Hermione turned up at Grimmauld Place, Harry was there to greet her. A hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a comment on what a surprise it was to see her later, and then Hermione got down to business.

"I want to see if I can find anything in here on magical engagements," she told Harry.

"Have at it," her friend said. "Want me to help too? You know I'm good with research these days. Besides, I've got nothing to do since your prat of a _fiancé_ decided to file a complaint."

"That was your own fault, Harry," Hermione scolded him, then smiled. "I would appreciate the help, of course."

Harry rolled his eyes at her as they headed to the Black library.

For the most part, they were silent as they researched, with the occasional comment on what they were reading coming up. There were a lot of books to go through, and the fact that most of the older tomes weren't even indexed (an issue with a _lot_ of older wizarding texts) made the search that bit more difficult. And some of them would require translation spells, but Hermione decided to leave those particular ones until later. And that's not even considering the 'pureblood only' books.

After a few hours of research, Harry put down the book he'd been reading and glanced over at her. "Hermione," he began, and then stopped, looking a little hesitant.

"What is it?"

"What are you going to do if you can't break the enchantment?" Harry asked. "You'll have to marry Malfoy, won't you?"

Hermione closed her own book and considered that. "I suppose," she acknowledged. "I've already told him I would make his life miserable if we _do_ have to marry, but…"

"But…?"

Hermione sighed. "If I really did dedicate our supposed married life to making him miserable, then I would probably be miserable too, and I don't want that."

"Maybe you could just do it for a little while?" Harry suggested, with a grin on his face. "George has a lot of products that are perfect for that sort of thing. The other day, he told me about a new sweet he'd made to turn someone into an animal for a couple of hours. Maybe you could turn Malfoy into a _ferret_?"

A snort of laughter escaped Hermione's lips, but then she just shook her head. "I suppose, after a good hex or two, that I _would_ try to make it work. But I'm determined to break this thing."

"You really think you can?" Harry asked, and she nodded.

"I really don't believe in unbreakable magic," she said. "After all, Ginny _did_ manage to get rid of that foul portrait of Sirius's mum."

Harry held up a book and waved it around, carefully, though, since it _was_ old. "With the help of these very books," he agreed with her. "So all hope is not lost then, good."

Hermione laughed and they turned back to the books.

From then on, their only interruptions were for lunch, dinner, and a two hour visit from Ginny and George, the latter of whom perked up at the idea of slipping Malfoy one of his newest creations, but Hermione told him emphatically, 'NO'. Then, when it was nearing midnight, Hermione let out a huge yawn, and knew it was time for her to leave. She would be back in the morning, though, and would head to the Burrow with Harry for their Sunday lunch, before heading into Diagon Alley for a few supplies for home.

When she back to her place, there was an owl waiting for her, and when she read the parchment attached, she recognised the handwriting… Malfoy.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Welcome to the next chapter! ;) Anyway, I haven't really felt like writing Dramione the last few days. I was reading ItaSaku and GaaSaku, and working on a few stories for those myself. I've** _ **really**_ **been neglecting my Naruto, and I want to get back to it eventually. :(**

 **Anyway, disclaimer goes here, and I hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter Twenty Two**

It took a lot to calm Astoria down, and eventually Daphne had to take her home, though not before fixing Draco with a glare and a promise to 'deal with him' later.

Draco had gone back to his research after Theo had promised to head off his wife when she got back. He had permission to tell her everything, and Draco only hoped that Daphne would be rational about it all. Hours later, when she still hadn't come to murder him, he hoped that meant that Theo had managed to quell his wife's homicidal urges. Daphne was usually a warm, sweet person, but when she was angry, she was one terrifying witch.

All the information in front him was incredibly useful, Draco eventually determined, and would almost certainly get him out of an engagement… _If_ he was a Nott. He sighed and sat back, feeling utterly useless now that he'd discovered that. _This_ was why he hadn't wanted his parents to know yet, so that he'd have access to the Malfoy library. He knew that the answer would be in there, but it was beyond his reach. The Nott engagement enchantments were apparently similar, but they were different enough to cause issues.

An elf brought Draco some food for dinner, but he stayed in the library, wanting to make sure that he didn't miss anything, just in case. A while later, he had a visitor that made him wish that he'd actually left. At about nine thirty, Daphne opened the door to the library and came in. Draco stopped what he was doing immediately, on guard against a verbal, and possibly magical attack. All she did though, was stare at him a moment, before speaking.

"Why is it that my sister isn't good enough for you, but a muggleborn is?" she demanded.

"Did your husband explain everything to you?" Draco asked.

"He did," she confirmed. "I want to hear you say it, though."

Draco sighed and said, "I have no feelings of any kind for your sister, and have no intention of tying myself to someone who only wants me for my name and money."

"Astoria's not like that," Daphne argued. "And you don't actually _have_ your money anymore."

"Daphne," Draco tried to reason. "You were there earlier when your sister went crazy. She practically _demanded_ that someone go talk sense into my parents, because she couldn't marry me without the money. Not that it would have made a difference, anyway."

"If you break the engagement with Granger, I'm sure your parents would acknowledge you again," she told him.

"They probably would," he admitted. "But what if I can't break it? Or, if it does break, what if I fall in love with someone else they deem unworthy?"

"But then you and Astoria…"

"No, Daphne," Draco told her firmly. "It's not going to happen."

Daphne sighed, then walked right past him into the library stacks. When she came back, she was carrying a book, which she handed to him.

"This is the only thing in this library that has a chance of giving you what you want," she told him. "It's blood magic, which I'm certain you know is illegal, but I'm sure you and Granger can both figure out something. The two of you are unimaginable swots, after all."

"Hey!" Draco protested. "I am _not_ a swot!"

Daphne smiled then, her first real one since the revelations earlier. "Of course you aren't," she mocked. "You were just lucky to be in the second position in our year then. Right behind _Granger_."

They chuckled, then she went on, "Take that home with you, I'm sure Theo won't mid," then walked out, but stopped at the door.

"If you can't break it, you do realise you're going to have to marry her, and before the deadline, too."

"I know," Draco rolled his eyes, making a mental note to tell Granger about that, which he'd completely forgotten until now.

"Don't forget to say goodnight to my husband," Daphne told him, then she was gone.

After saying goodbye to Theo, Draco headed home and skimmed the book. It was _almost_ the answer he was looking for, but it was so close, that he knew they could do something with it. So he put pen to paper and sent an owl off to his fiancée, with the words, _'I found something,'_ written in his elegant script inside.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **Ps: Rained for about twenty minutes just now, but it wasn't enough, and now it's so fricking muggy!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A new chapter at last! ;) I fixed a continuity issue someone pointed out, by going around it and turning it into something useful.**

 **Disclaimer and stuff goes here.**

 **Chapter Twenty Three**

Sunday morning dawned bright and cheerful, but Hermione Granger groaned and rolled back over, not looking forward to the day. She was going to the Burrow for Sunday lunch for the first time in a while, and she hadn't been for one since just before she and Ron had broken up. Hermione was incredibly nervous about sitting down and playing nice with the people who were once going to be her in-laws.

 _Not_ that she hadn't actually been over there in all this time for other reasons, but those visits were usually just to pick up or drop off stuff, like that one time she had to get an incredibly drunk Ginny home. Or the time she went to get something for Harry, because the dope had forgotten it and couldn't go get it because Kingsley wanted him in a meeting ten minutes ago. Each time, Ron had not been there, but that wasn't an issue as much anymore these days, what with them agreeing to move on past it.

Finally, Hermione got out of bed to shower and change. She was actually headed over to Harry's first, for more research and some breakfast. After the owl from Malfoy, the two had conversed in a floo call, and Hermione was all set to look for the Black family version of the one he'd found in the Nott library. The one Malfoy had found had stated that all purebloods in the so called sacred twenty eight had similar blood magicks, and finding the one for the Black family was the best they could do without access to the Malfoy library.

When Hermione flooed over, she headed straight to the kitchen, and Harry was in there with Ginny. "Hey, 'Mione," she greeted. "Harry told me that you were going to be spending the morning in the library, so I thought I might come and help."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks Gin," she said, then sat down to eat.

Once they were settled in the library (Harry had gotten called out to work and would have to meet them later at the Burrow, so it was just the two girls) Ginny seemed to think that it was a good time to ask Hermione all about Malfoy. "So, what's been happening with the two of you?" she asked. "Have you gone on a date yet? Has he kissed you? Ooh! Have you checked out his arse yet?"

"Ginny!" Hermione chastised with a blush. "That is _not_ something that I'm going to do!"

"Ooh, you're lying!" Ginny gasped. "You _have_ done something, haven't you?"

Hermione let out a frustrated breath. "Fine!" she said. "I _have_ checked out his bum! And also…"

"Also what?" Ginny prodded when Hermione faltered.

"He kissed me."

Ginny gasped and then squealed. "When did this happen?"

"The other night," Hermione told her. "He'd been out with his friends, flooed to my flat drunk, and kissed me."

"Did you kiss him back?" the youngest Weasley asked, and the blush that formed was her answer. "Yes!"

"Why are you so excited about this?" Hermione asked, trying to get her flaming cheeks under control.

"Because I think Malfoy is perfect for you," Ginny said. "More so than Ron ever was. You should forget about breaking the engagement and just marry him!"

"I'm not going to do that!" Hermione vehemently declared. "Besides, weren't you the one always going on about how excited you were about the two of us being sisters? Even if it was just by marriage?"

"Well, of course I was," Ginny admitted. "You're my best friend. So you're always going to be like a sister to me anyway."

There was a 'moment', then it passed, and Ginny asked, "What happens if you fall in love with him, then?"

"That's not going to happen!" Hermione scoffed. "And even if it did, for some _strange_ reason, I would still want to break the engagement."

"Because then it would be your choice, right?" Ginny guessed, and Hermione nodded.

They were silent a moment, then Ginny's sly grin returned, causing Hermione to sigh in frustration. "All things aside, I want you to tell me _everything_ that happened the other night," the red head commanded.

Hermione rolled her eyes at the excitement in her friend's voice, just knowing she wasn't going to get any real work done, and wondered how Malfoy's morning was going…

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **Ps: New cat in the house, so there's a lot of hissing and growling going on at the moment. ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**New chapter! Yay!**

 **Disclaimer and enjoy, folks.**

 **Chapter Twenty Four**

Draco was taking a break by wandering through Diagon Alley. He'd been up to his ears in research the past few days, so he decided to have a day off, so to speak. Today was about relaxing, and getting some things for his new house. He had enough funds to live for awhile, but he knew he should probably get on with finding a job. But what job would someone like him even be able to get? He'd never worked a day in his life before, and had never really expected to, beyond one day managing the family business and assets.

As he walked along the alley, he noted the presence of a few photographers, and grimaced at the thought that they were likely working for rags like Witch Weekly, or even for the Daily Prophet. What was that muggle word for them? Papparika? Perperpozzo? Well, whatever it was, they fit the description. He'd had his own run ins with them before, right after the war. They hounded his family any time they went out, and one in particular had been, and still was, rather zealous in his efforts to get the scoop on the Malfoy family.

"Draco Malfoy!"

Speak of the devil…

Draco turned around, fake smile in place. "Rackham Whitfield," he drawled. "I haven't seen you for some time. Did you get a suspension for one of your articles?"

Whitfield chuckled. "Of course not," he assured him, then raised his camera to take a shot. "I was on holiday in the Maldives."

Draco blinked to get rid of the light in his eyes from the camera flash, the sighed. "What is it you want today, Whitfield?"

"Why, I want to know how your engagement is going, of course," the smug reporter said.

"My what?" Draco asked, momentarily stunned.

"Oh, come now Malfoy," Whitfield said, putting his camera away and pulling out a quill and a pad of parchment. " _Everyone_ knows that your parents are expecting you to marry, I have no doubt that they've already handed over your family ring with instructions. Which family have they deemed worthy, hm? Parkinson? Greengrass? Davis? Those are all purebloods, after all."

"None of your business!" Draco snapped, then mentally cursed himself for letting a reaction slip out.

Whitfield grinned. "I see I've hit the jackpot," he said. "But which one? Maybe not Davis, she was seen last week with Eddie Carmichael. Parkinson perhaps then? Your mothers are well known to be friends. Or Greengrass? That would be better politically. Hey! Wait up!"

Draco had turned around and was leaving, he didn't particularly want to get caught out hexing the tosser in public. Retreat was surely the best option, but the worm was insisting on following him.

"Come on, Mr Malfoy," Whitfield cajoled. "Everyone wants to know just who the Malfoy heir will be marrying. It's big news."

Everyone could go blow themselves, as far as Draco was concerned. He kept walking, ignoring the man trying to keep up, until Whitfield dared to reach out and physically stop him. Draco whirled in anger, determined to verbally reduce the other man, but the slime ball's next words stopped him.

"You're wearing the Malfoy engagement ring! You _are_ engaged already!"

"How the hell do you know what the Malfoy engagement ring looks like?" Draco demanded, then cursed himself for confirming it.

Whitfield smirked at him triumphantly. "I did my research," he said. "And if you won't tell me who you're now engaged to, I guess that'll just mean a little more research."

Whitfield turned and left, and Draco sighed, dragging his hand over his face. This was not going to end well.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hi there! A new chapter for all of you.**

 **So, sorry I haven't been updating, but I've been packing up my entire room, and my laptop is mostly off these days. But right now, it's on a box and I've lowered my chair down so I can write this chapter for you.**

 **Disclaimer goes here.**

 **Chapter Twenty Five**

When Hermione arrived at the Burrow with the crack of apparation, the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and _gernumbli gardensi_ were creeping in under the garden fence. She sighed. Everything looked just as it normally did on Sundays, right down to the large tables set out, ready to be prepared for lunch. She could even hear the sounds of Molly clattering around in the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath, she made her way up to the rickety home, steeled herself for Merlin knew what, and knocked on the door. The kitchen sounds stopped, increasing Hermione's nerves, and a moment later, the door was flung open to reveal Molly Weasley.

Hermione was immediately engulfed in a hug as the older witch demanded, "What on earth are you doing knocking, child? You know you can just come in!"

As Hermione was released from the embrace, she said, "I wasn't sure how welcome I'd be after…"

"After Ronald?" Molly asked. "Or do you mean, after becoming engaged to the young Mr Malfoy?"

Hermione gaped slightly at the easy and almost nonchalant way Molly spoke, then she gathered her wits and said, "The engagement, of course. I know how this family feels about the Malfoys in general, after all."

"It was always Arthur, and then Ronald, who had problems with the Malfoys," Molly told her, leading her inside. "Arthur and Lucius were in the same year in Hogwarts, you see, and were rivals in a similar way that Draco and Harry were."

"And Ron never liked Draco, especially the way he kept going on about how poor all of you were," Hermione noted.

"Yes well, that was something Lucius also constantly pointed out to Arthur," Molly said sadly. "History was repeating itself, I guess."

Molly smiled then, suddenly, and said, "Well, now that you're here, perhaps you can help me with getting things set up. The others should start arriving soon… Speaking of, weren't Ginny and Harry supposed to be coming with you?"

"Harry got called in to work," Hermione told her. "Ginny went to fetch him, so I came here by myself."

Molly nodded, and immediately set Hermione to work. Pretty soon, Harry and Ginny arrived, then George and Angelina, Bill and Fleur with little Victoire, and soon enough, the Burrow was filled to the brim. Lunch was rambunctious, and Molly added talk of certain engagements to the 'not at the table' rule that also included work and quidditch, though Hermione knew that as soon as the meal was done with, that deal would be off. Sure enough, as soon as the plates were away and the tables emptied, Hermione was flooded with questions.

She answered as best she could, without going too much into detail, and when they realised they weren't getting any more from her, they let it go. Reluctantly. As everyone eventually either left, or headed inside, Hermione was left outside with Ron. The atmosphere was incredibly awkward, before Ron spoke up.

"So, how close _are_ you to breaking the engagement?" he asked.

Sighing, Hermione said, "We might be close to breaking it, as long as it pans out. Draco thinks he's found something, and we're going to be properly researching it tomorrow when we meet up, but other than that…"

"What will you do if you can't?" he asked. "I don't think that you'll be happy if you're forced to marry the git."

"I know it can be broken," Hermione determined. "There's no curse that's been invented yet that can't, and by the very nature of magic, I don't think there can be, really."

Ron nodded. "I hope you're right, and you can break it," he said, then stood and went inside, most likely in search of Harry.

"Me too," Hermione said as she stood and made her way indoors to bid everyone farewell.

She still had a book to find at Grimmauld, after all.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hi there, lovelies! :) Yes, yes, I know it's been a long time, but I'm here now with a new chapter for you. Bit of a time skip here, just a week, but I think it's long overdue. Thinking about wrapping this up, don't ask me how many chapters that will be, though.**

 **In any case, I don't own the Harry Potter universe, or anything contained therein.**

 **Chapter Twenty Six**

 _Malfoy Heir To Wed!_

 _It is the great honour of this humble reporter, Rackham Whitfield , to report that Draco Malfoy, one of Britain's most eligible bachelors, is finally taking the metaphorical plunge._

 _Only last week, I was out and about in Diagon Alley, ever ready at the people's behest to bring them only the best cutting edge stories, when I spied my good friend, Draco Malfoy. After a small 'catch up', Mr Malfoy let slip that he is now engaged to be married. He was hesitant to reveal the lucky witches identity, but I assure you, this intrepid reporter will get to the bottom of this, and discover the lucky lady's identity!_

Draco scoffed at the paper, throwing it aside. The idiot. Whitfield didn't really have enough to run with the story, so he had no idea why the man's editor had let him run with it. Five hundred words of unsubstantiated drivel, even if it was kinda the truth. Whitfield had only figured out there was an engagement because he had no sense of personal boundaries. It probably took him this whole week to convince his editor to run with it, despite the lack of real evidence. Draco took another sip of his tea, absentmindedly rubbing at the ring on his left finger.

In the week that it had been since Whitfield had confronted him, Draco had hardly seen his 'fiancée' at all. Some kind of emergency had come up for her at work, which had seen Granger out of the country this whole time. She had, however, owled the book he'd needed to him from the Black library, and he'd been perusing it quite thoroughly. It had the answers they sought, he knew it, but he hadn't quite figured out what they were yet.

Granger was actually due back today, and had sent an owl telling him to meet her at her office at the Ministry at one after lunch. That was five minutes away, and Draco was already dressed and waiting. As soon as he finished his tea, he would be flooing to the Ministry. Speaking of, he drained the last of the liquid from his cup then stood, glancing one last time at the newspaper he'd read over and over that day.

As soon as he arrived at the Ministry, Draco was bombarded with bright flashes as a few reporters who were lingering in the Ministry's atrium, accosted him. He practically growled in frustration as they hampered his moving past them with their annoying questions and even more bulb flashing.

" _Mr Malfoy! Who are you marrying?"_

" _Is it Miss Parkinson? Miss Greengrass?"_

" _Are you marrying a muggle?"_

Where the hell had _that_ question come from?

" _Have your parents met the lucky lady?"_

" _Do your parents know who it is?"_

" _Rumour has it you're living in a small house in suburban London. Is this true?"_

" _When's the wedding taking place?"_

Draco finally managed to shake them off at the point that no reporter was allowed past without special permission, and he made his way over to Granger's office, scowl on his face. When he got there, his scowl deepened, because right outside the office, _Weasley_ was waiting, and the annoying git glared at him the instant he spotted him.

"What are you doing here?" the two men demanded in unison.

 **Woo hoo! Whitfield's back to torment Draco. And what's Ron doing at Hermione's office? I've no clue, so I'll go figure it out while you guys read and review. Ta-ta!**

 **PS: Checking out houses online is surprisingly fun. ;)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi everyone! I'm back!**

 **Well, kinda. Still waiting for the internet to properly come on here at our new house, only been using my mum's little wifi thingie that is pretty low, but whatever. Took us three and a half weeks to find a house once we came down here, and our finances are pretty depleted from living in motels for that time, but hey, at least now we have a proper roof over our heads, right? Anyway, I haven't really been doing much writing, but a little while ago, I wrote this chapter, just haven't really had the time or opportunity to post it. But things are set up now and ready to go.**

 **Disclaimer and enjoy, folks!**

 _ **Chapter Twenty Seven**_

Hermione stood up immediately when she heard Malfoy's voice, wanting to stop anything before it even happened. "Ron," she said. "You know why Malfoy's here, remember? We have a meeting."

Ron scowled. "Right," he confirmed, then looked away from Malfoy to Hermione. "Well, I guess I'd better get back, Lionel will want these papers right away."

He left then, with a quick warning glare at Malfoy, and then Hermione was left alone with her intended. She was about to usher him in, but he demanded, "What the heck was Weasley doing here?"

Sighing, Hermione told him, "Picking up some documents for his department. Now get in here and mind your own business while you're at it."

Malfoy gave her a glare, then strode forward to take his usual seat. "Did you look over the book I sent you at all while you were away?" he asked as she took her seat.

"I did," she confirmed. "I assume you did the same with the one I sent you?"

"Naturally," Malfoy said with a scoff.

"Well, what was your conclusion?" Hermione asked, irritated with the way he was behaving.

"There's no way out, except by using blood magic," he said rather bluntly. "What about you?"

"The same," Hermione confessed. "I don't know how we're going to do it without getting into a lot of trouble."

The two of them fell silent, then Malfoy said a bit shortly, "I'm sure you'll figure it out Granger."

He stood and was about to leave, when Hermione also stood and demanded, "Alright, what the hell is going on, Malfoy?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he told her as he reached for her door handle, but Hermione scooted past her desk and shot in between him and the door. "What the hell, Granger!?"

"You've been short with me since you arrived and Ron was here," Hermione said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were jealous."

"Jealous? Of that twat?" Malfoy snorted in derision. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Why on earth would you even need to be jealous?" Hermione asked, ignoring his statement. "We're not together, and neither are Ron and I. You and I are only connected through this bond you've forced upon me, and as soon as that's done, we won't need to cross paths any more!"

Something flickered in Malfoy's eyes, but Hermione had no idea what it was. "If that's what you want, Granger, it can certainly be arranged," he said. "May I leave now? There are other things I'd like to get done today."

Slightly disappointed, Hermione let him go, and she made her way back to her desk, wondering what was going on with him. Was he really jealous that Ron had been here? There was no need, because she and Ron had worked out their issues and were only friends now. In fact, he'd even told her about this girl he was interested in at a new café in Diagon Alley that had opened up across from George's joke shop.

If Malfoy really was jealous, then maybe that meant that he'd started to see her in the same light she sometimes saw him. That view that Hermione'd tried so hard to deny, but after a week away, with the feelings still there, there was no logical way to deny it. She stood, wondering if Malfoy was too far away from her office by now, but wanting to go check anyway. Maybe she could speak to him about it, have a rational dialogue about whatever their feelings may be.

Before she could reach her office door, though, it slammed open, and Malfoy stood there. They stared at one another a moment, before he muttered, "Fuck it," and surged forward, capturing her lips with his.

 **So how was it? Review please!**

 **Ps: Should be wrapping up soon, though I've no idea how many chapters are left.**


	28. Chapter 28

**This is wrapping up, now. Two more chapters, and it'll be done.**

 **Disclaimer and I don't own.**

 **Chapter Twenty Eight**

It was all hands, lips, and tongue, and Draco could hardly think that there was anything else. He was doing his best to imprint himself upon Granger even as he pushed her backwards and against her desk. Her response to his caresses were fervent and passionate, just as he thought they would be, and soon enough, they were reaching a point that, if nothing stopped them, they might well end up shagging in her office.

It was with great reluctance that Draco pulled away, his willpower tested when Granger whimpered at the lack of contact between them. He nibbled her lower lip as the kiss ended, then pulled back and waited for her reaction. It didn't take long for her to look him in the eyes, and when she did, he saw that she seemed to be on the same page as him.

"Malfoy," she spoke. "Why?"

"Because I'm attracted to you," he told her. "You're infuriating, annoying and a know it all, but there's something about you, Granger, that's been pulling me to you ever since the start."

"Maybe it's the rings?" she suggested, pushing him back slightly, but enough for him to loosen his hold on her.

"The rings don't have _that_ kind of enchantment on them, Granger," he told her with a scoff. "And that's not the start I meant."

"What did you mean then?" she asked.

"I mean, that there's always been something about you that intrigued me," he told her. "Even back when I really hated you, it just manifested as teasing."

"Tormenting, you mean," she muttered, and Draco frowned.

"Are you going to hold it against me for the rest of my life?" he asked, withdrawing completely from her. "What if I apologised?"

"That would be nice," she told him, "but also unnecessary. I've already forgiven you for it all."

"Really?" he asked, and she nodded. "I'm still sorry, though."

They were silent a moment, then Draco asked, "If I asked you to dinner, what would you say?"

"That depends," Granger told him. "Besides, I'm not so sure we should start something while we're still bound."

"What if we can't break it?"

"We can. I know we can."

He looked at her, then away, even as she did the same. "There's something that might work," she said. "The blood magic, if we had a couple of aurors presiding over it, we could get it done."

"Not Potter," Draco insisted. "Not sure he wouldn't say he saw me do something untoward, just because."

Granger whacked him in the arm. "Ow!" he whined. "No need to be violent, Granger, sheesh!"

"Hermione."

"What?"

Her hands were on her hips instantly in that 'I'm telling you what to do, but it's for your own good' way that she had. "If you really want to try something with me, then you can start by calling me by my given name," she ordered.

"Alright," he agreed. "But only if you do the same, Hermione."

She grinned at him. "You've got a deal, Draco," she told him. "Now come on! Let's go to the auror office and see about getting their assistance, shall we?"

She grabbed his hand and together they headed off to the auror's offices.

 **So what did you think? Review please!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hi everyone! So, there's one more chapter left, though at this point I'm a little unsure of the format. I'll figure it out, but in the mean time, here's the second last chapter for you.**

 **Disclaimer and enjoy! ;)**

 **Chapter Twenty Nine**

Getting permission from the aurors to use blood magic would have been impossible if Draco had asked on his own. As it was, they still had a ton of questions, followed by even more restrictions. They eventually only agreed to do it at the Ministry, in the presence of at least three aurors, a curse breaker, and the Minister of Magic himself. Hermione knew that Kingsley would be intrigued by the plan, and when he got into an in depth discussion with her on the magicks, she was proven right.

Breaking the enchantment was scheduled for three days later, and Hermione and Draco set up a date for the following evening. Hermione was quite interested in seeing where this attraction with Draco went, maybe something would come of it, maybe it wouldn't. In any case, reservations were made at a quality wizarding restaurant, though not the one Draco would have preferred. That one was an extremely expensive one, but he was still disowned, after all, without access to the family vaults.

Now, standing before Kingsley and three hand picked aurors, Draco and Hermione held the hands with the rings on them together, small cuts they'd made activating the blood magic side of this. The Ministry appointed curse breaker waved his wand over them, utilising complex magic that glowed over their joined hands, then he spoke, " _Et incantatores finietur,_ " and then it was done.

"Seriously?" Draco asked a few moments later as they finished signing the documents that would be stored in the Ministry's archives. " _That_ was the incantation? _Et incantatores finietur_? But that's… that's so _simple_!"

"Why are you complaining?" Hermione grumbled. "The enchantment's broken, just like we wanted, like _you_ wanted in the first place."

"It's the principle of the thing," he told her. "That enchantment is centuries worth of magical tradition, and even though I hated it, it was still supposed to be practically unbreakable. But it's beaten by _let the spell be ended_?!"

"It wasn't just the incantation," she reminded him, feeling a little grouchy at his attitude. "We did just bleed for the magic as well. And there was the wand movements, too."

"I know, I know," he grumbled. "But still…"

Their signing of the waivers and official records, which acknowledged things such as the fact that the Ministry had approved, and waived any Ministry culpability if something went wrong down the track, continued on for another twenty minutes. Draco was muttering constantly under his breath about bureaucracy and their insane need for everything in triplicate, then finally, they were released. As they stepped out of the Ministry, he let out a dramatic sigh of relief, and Hermione chuckled.

"Now," Draco said. "Since that's done, how about we celebrate? Wanna go grab lunch somewhere?"

"And where would we go?" Hermione asked him.

"I know this great little café in Diagon Alley," he told her.

Hermione frowned. "Are you sure?" she asked. "It's sure to be packed right now, and there's usually a bunch of reporters hanging around."

Now it was Draco's turn to frown. "You're not ashamed to be seen with me, are you?" he asked.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Absolutely not!" she assured him. "Just… Are you ready to face the public's opinions about us? Well, the idea of us?"

"Of course," he told her, and held out his arm for her to take. "Ready to make history?" he asked her, and she whacked him in the arm.

"Don't be so pretentious," she scolded him, and took his arm as he apparated them to Diagon Alley.

 _Et incantatores finietur: Let the spell be ended. (in Latin)_

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **Ps: Thinking of doing a sequel,** _ **MAYBE**_ **. Don't go quoting me on it or anything, it's not set in stone. Or synapses. As in** _ **my**_ **synapses. :P I'm also considering going through Bound once it's done and editing chapters and fixing continuity. Like the time limit on the rings. Completely forgot about that.**

 **Pps: Yesterday, I went into Brisbane City and saw Sir Anthony Hopkins and Chris Hemsworth! They were filming the new Thor movie, it was their last day on set in the city, though. My sister (not the one on fanfiction) saw Tom Hiddleston, but I missed seeing him. :'( Oh well.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Final chapter! This was the best way, I decided, to end this, I hope you all enjoy it. ;) Thank you so much to everyone who's read, reviewed, favourited, and followed, it means a lot.**

 **Disclaimer, this wonderful world of Harry Potter is not mine.**

 **Chapter Thirty (epilogue)**

 _War Heroine Hermione Granger Seen Arm In Arm With Reformed Deatheater Draco Malfoy!_

 _-Article by Rackham Whitfield._

 _Yes folks, you read that headline correctly. It seems that Draco Malfoy, reformed Deatheater and heir to the Malfoy fortune has taken up with none other than our favourite war heroine and recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class, Hermione Granger. The pair were seen in Diagon Alley yesterday, walking hand in hand, though they refused to answer any questions. Most mysteriously, though, Draco Malfoy's family engagement ring was missing._

 _As our loyal readers will remember, this dedicated reporter brought you the news of his impending engagement, though the identity of the mystery lady had remained just that. Two weeks of researching still hadn't revealed who the lucky lady was, though perhaps it was indeed Miss Granger, though the absence of the Malfoy family heirlooms does add a twist to the story._

 _Perhaps it was Astoria Greengrass that the young Mister Malfoy was engaged to. She did, after all, confront the new couple in Diagon Alley yesterday, calling Miss Granger out on stealing her intended away. (See page nine for the full article on Miss Greengrass's outburst) After the altercation escalated, her sister was called upon to remove her from the Alley, but it seems credible to this reporter that perhaps Hermione Granger did indeed steal Draco Malfoy, or his heart, at the very least._

 _We have requested a statement from Lord and Lady Malfoy, and their reticence has fuelled speculation in our offices on the validity of Miss Greengrass's accusations. There are some, however, who believed that it would be Pansy Parkinson who would marry Mister Malfoy, but rumours have been circulating for a couple of days of a gentleman's agreement being reached between Macarthur Parkinson and Robert Flint._

 _Regardless, the ideal of a union between Mister Malfoy and Miss Granger is likely to be welcomed by some circles, and rejected in others, as there are still those who would consider Miss Granger unworthy of Mister Malfoy, and vice versa. Despite all the changes to our world since the fall of You-Know-Who, there are still sympathisers to that cause, though they remain silent for the most part, perhaps biding their time._

 _It is the fervent wish of this office that Lord and Lady Malfoy will step up to offer a statement. Their efforts after the war in repairing their name have not gone unnoticed. Donations to several charities, as well as starting up one of their own for the victims of You-Know-Who's muggleborn registration committee. Their names are synonymous these days with reform, and they are the prime example for others who are also attempting to change their views._

 _Naturally, there are those that doubt the sincerity of their actions, whispers that they only do it to repair their standing in society, and not because they are actually reformed. Lord and Lady Malfoy unsurprisingly refute this any time it comes up. Whether they have truly reformed or not, they have helped with enough changes to our world that to some, it may not matter what their motives are. Perhaps time will tell._

 _In the meantime, the blossoming relationship between Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy will cement the standing of the Malfoy family in this new age where blood doesn't' matter._

 _ **The End**_

 **So what did you think? Review please!**

 **Ps: IT'S OVER! FINALLY!**


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